Next week we're having a double retro delight on the Switch eShop courtesy of Hamster: an SNK trilogy finally completed and Nichibutsu's debut on the platform. The first,Art Of Fighting 2 arrived in 1994 bringing many improvements on the original AOF, including an extended single-player roster, featuring Takuma (aka Mister Karate) plus the debut of his daughter and fan favorite, Yuri. The game is legendary due to the insanely difficult AI - and if you somehow manage to get to the last battle without losing a single round, final boss Mr Big is replaced by none other than Geese Howard himself. Expect to test your stress levels with this retro classic.

Then there's Crazy Climber, which not only introduces Nichibutsu to the Arcade Archives lineup on Switch, it will also become the oldest title available on the console. This game has been driving people mad since its arcade debut in 1980, predating Nintendo's very own Donkey Kong by a whole year. The unique control method is what made this Nichibutsu classic such a distinct experience from other video games, with a dual joystick setup used to simulate each of the climber's arms. Once you figure out how to properly climb and move sideways you will also need to be on the constant lookout for for closing windows, tenants throwing stuff out their apartments, birds and even a giant monkey whose mood swings can very quickly end your climbing shenanigans early.

Regular person by day, super video game player by night, Gonçalo lives in eager anticipation that the prophecy of a new F-Zero will soon be fulfilled. When not messing about making weird music he can be found with a Super Nintendo pad in hand, replaying a Japanese wrestling game no one has ever heard of.

Art of Fighting was never a highlight fighting game series, it was always reviewed and described as a "poor man's Street Fighter 2" even though it was a lot more expensive. I never cared for it myself either, played it because I love checking out old 90's arcade games, but they definitely don't stand out.

Crazy Climber is kinda interesting for big fans of 80's style arcade games, but I always thought the sequel looked a lot better.

I played a game that was kinda like Crazy Climber but you could shoot and save people. I'll be damned if I can remember the name of the game though.
Edit! Firetrap by Data East! Zoinks, after the recent announcement it could end up on the Switch too lol

Probably gonna pick up both, even Art of Frustration 2, Lol. I used to love Crazy Climber when I was little. It was either the supermarket, but more likely Chuck E. Cheese's where I played it the most. I could always make it to the Donkey Kong look-a-like near the top, but could never pass him. Maybe I could do it now, with offset thimbsticks?

@OorWullie I am not 100% certain but I imagine it must have been some kind of regional licensing issue with Magician Lord since the game was only available in the USA store for about a week before it was silently removed, but it was never removed from the European store which is how I ultimately got the game on my Switch.

Seeing as how Double Dragon was never released in either region I imagine it must be some bigger issue that they needed to work on, especially since they actually announced a later release date.

@JayJ Cheers, I didn't know that. I bought mine from the US Eshop too.Must have just nicked it in time. I went to buy Gunbird the other day from the US Eshop and I couldn't find it. It's still on the UK Eshop though, where I ended up buying it from.

I had not heard of Crazy Climber until years later, but I had apparently first experienced it in the form of a ripoff level in Bart's Nightmare for the SNES (which also had a sly console wars joke of the residents throwing their Genesis consoles at Bart. Supposedly the Genesis port made a year later replaced them with TurboDuos. Perhaps making fun of its poor performance in the US market. But if you did throw your Duo at a giant lizard, you'd probably regret it years later. )

Crazy Climber? That’s one of my all time favorite arcade games! I used to love that as a kid. I’ve almost bought an tabletop arcade version of it a couple of times on eBay, but the sellers always wanted it to be picked up. Day 1 purchase for me. I hope the controllers hold up to the gameplay.

@MotionMan what the heck happened with Switch Magician Lord anyway?? I was wondering about that. Meanwhile I grabbed it on Xbox because it’s still up and in PSN store. Strange that it was only the Switch version pulled. 😳 I did manage to grab Gunbird before that was yanked because that was a day 1 for me but i also don’t know the reason they pulled that game down either! Strange stuff indeed!

@joey302 yeah its very strange indeed. I bought gunbird day one as well. Actually i didn’t even know it was pulled from the store! But Magician Lord is a game i want to add to my Neo Geo collection on Switch. I wonder if Hamster has adressed this issue?

@MotionMan yup problem is if the only way is digital then no choices if you want the game bad enough! As bad as I want overcooked I waited and now a retail version is coming. I have the same strategy in place for Shante. I will wait. Retail always first and forever!!

@joey302 Ugh i couldn’t wait for overcooked and now im still going to buy it physically. As for shantae i waited because i have it on disc for Wii U, but its a must have for switch!!!! Im also going to double dip on Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap!!!